Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Doppelganger ❯ The Haunted Swamp ( Chapter 12 )

I love the Cal character because her two personalities are so different. There are both fun to write. I can't explain it… but its fun. In case anybody is wondering, I based her character off of Lucy and Nana from “Elfen Lied”, and Drei from “Phantom of inferno”. Just in case anybody is wondering.

 

Also… this chapter is based off “The Swamp”. The main thing I wanted to do, or not to do, was make it too much like the episode. So, I tried my best to stay away from the episode and made it fit my own storyline. It may seem like the episode at times, but that's because I couldn't avoid that part for my own plotline purposes. So… don't hold it against me if you think this chapter is too much like the episode.

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor do I make money from this fic.

 

Doppelganger

 

Chapter Twelve

 

. . .

 

Katara opened her eyes. Stars slowly stretched across the heavens as Appa soared through the sky. She groaned softly as she remembered the happenings of the previous day. The princess of the fire nation came and chased them away from Kyle's house. She had the upper hand in a fire duel with him… And… An image on Kyle sinking his teeth into Cal's arm flashed into her mind. Katara shot up into a sitting position so fast her back spasmed with pain. She winced fiercely and laid her head on the edge of Appa's saddle. Maybe not so fast next time. She looked around with her eyes. Sokka lay curled up in a ball near the front of the Saddle; Kyle sat with his head dropped to his chest, looking fast asleep. Where had he learned to sleep like that? Aang couldn't be seen from her position; he must have been handling Appa's reigns.

Katara looked to the other side of her, and saw Cal staring at her. She felt her heart skip. After a few seconds, Katara breathed evenly and cleared her throat. “You still awake?” She asked Cal.

The little vampire blinked slowly, and nodded. “I don't know if Kyle has told you yet, but vampires don't really need to sleep. Kyle's mind is just tired out, so he is resting.” Kyle… she used his name. She had used his name, instead of Onii-chan. Did that mean Cal was in her real state of mind? If that were the case, then with Kyle asleep, what would become of her? “Do not worry. I will not harm you.” Cal chided and edged closer, sitting beside Katara. “Although I do wish to talk to you.”

Katara nervously swallowed and sat up strait. “Talk to me?” Her voice sounded a little higher pitched than normal. She saw the vampire's light hair bob in a nod out of the corner of her eye.

“Yes. You must have at least noticed that the other one loves Kyle more than life itself.” Katara blinked in confusion.

“The-the other one?” What did she mean, the other one?

“I mean the other me. The one who's childlike. The one who spouts off, `Onii-chan, Onii-chan!'. You know, the other one.”

“You know about that?”

Cal brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I do, she doesn't.” Katara nodded her head in mild understanding. The real Cal knows of her double mind. The younger Cal wasn't aware. I suppose that makes sense. “I suppose I'm fond of him, too… but that doesn't matter.” Katara felt a twinge of jealousy towards the vampire. Cal brought her legs up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. “When I first found out you were a waterbender, I tried to kill you. Kyle jumped to your aid.” Katara remembered clearly. He had tackled her to the ground and knocked her out. “When I regained consciousness, and tried to kill you, he jumped to your aid.” Kyle had pinned her and bit her to calm her down. “I was surprised that he stood in my way. I almost killed him last time we fought like that.”

”You mean, when you saw that he could waterbend?” Cal nodded.

“Yea, so I was very surprised at his actions. Until he bit me, then I understood.” The warerbender turned her head to look at Cal.

“You… understood?”

”You know about his gift, correct? Kyle's gift?” Katara shook her head.

“No, he told us about yours, though. He played it off like a joke when asked about his.” Cal sniffed a laugh.

“Yea, he would. Nobody knows about it except for me. Kyle has the ability to manipulate memories.” Katara blinked in shock. Manipulate… memories? “I'm not sure what all he can do with it, but what I've seen him do is erase memories with feeding; that comes in handy when wanting to stay hidden and unknown to the public. He can also give others memories. Such as his own.”

“His… own memories?” Katara asked slowly. “What do you mean?”

Cal took a slow breath. “I mean he can show his own memories to others.”

Both girls were silent for a few minutes. No one knew what to say after that; until Cal continued. “Anyway, I understood after he bit me. He gave me his memories and thoughts that manifested lately. As in, the last few months.” The little vampire stared at Katara, as if trying to etch her look and presence in her mind with her eyes. “And I do see the resemblance.” Katara cocked her head to the side, confused.

“The resemblance? To who?” Cal smiled lightly.

“Senea.” Feeling her blood get cold was an unpleasant feeling that Katara didn't enjoy that often, but one that should couldn't stop with her present skill with waterbending; especially when shocked.

“Do you mean to say that I remind him of Senea?”

“More or less.” Came the response. Katara gripped her knuckles. Am I a replacement for Senea? “But before you jump to conclusions… there's something else you might want to know.” Cal placed a hand on Katara's shoulder. “And keep it from the others; or it might get complicated.” The waterbender breathed and nodded.

“Deal.”

“Alright. Azula might be a complication now that she is after us.” Azula? That firebender with the blue fire?

“Why would she be a complication? If Kyle had used more than firebending, he would have beaten her.” Cal rubbed her hands together.

“That's probably true. But it's not her skills that worry me. It's her looks.”

“Her… looks?” Katara repeated. What would her looks have to do with anything?

“I am the only other one still living that holds Kyle's memories, besides him. And I would swear to whatever divine being there is that Azula… looks almost exactly like Senea used to.” Katara coughed immediately but restrained herself, wanting to stay relatively quiet.

“W-what?” She asked. Surely she didn't hear correctly.

“Azula looks like Senea.” Cal clarified. “I'm sure of it. Everything except for the eyes and the hair length. Although it must be an amazing coincidence, it is a coincidence that might present a problem. Her personality is completely different, though. Senea... was not a sociopath. Azula is insane. I know that much for certain.” Katara's mind was racing. Azula looks like Senea. But she herself reminds him of Senea. She held her hand against her face tightly.

“Did he notice, do you think?” She said, referring to Kyle.

“Most definitely. Not a doubt in my mind.”

“So what do we do?” Katara asked the vampire.

“Try and keep Kyle thinking clearly and away from Azula. That would be my guess. It would be a shame for Kyle to be seduced by that bitch. What with the both of us here.” Cal said with a half-smile. Katara blinked confusedly. Was that a joke of some kind? “And between us…” The vampire whispered, leaning forward. “Even if you remind him of Senea… I will not lose to you.” Cal smirked and slid back to where she originally was. Katara stared after her in surprise, then put on a determined look.

Fine. Nor will I lose to this `little sister'. The waterbender shifted her neck and shut her eyes.

Across from her Kyle picked up his head and rolled his neck around, getting rid of the stiffness.

. . .

 

The next day went by quickly. And with not stopping even to eat or relieve themsleves, Appa started to get tired. But even then, they didn't stop. We need to get as far away as possible. Kyle had said. The others didn't argue. From the way Azula had beaten Kyle, nobody would bother to question him. The day after that Appa started to slow.

“We better think about taking a break soon. Appa is getting tired.” The giant bison groaned in response, apparently agreeing with Aang. “Look, there is a forest over there, we should be able to rest there for a while.” Kyle acquiesced and the airbender steered Appa towards the green area to the northeast. When they got there, though, finding a place to land proved difficult.

“There is nothing but dense trees as far as the eye can see… Maybe we better go back to the entrance.” Katara observed. Indeed, there was no place to land, without knocking a good amount of trees over and risking injury to Appa. Sokka agreed with his sister.

“Appa wont be able to make the trip back. It would be better to just find a place to land here. There is bound to be someplace around…” Aang mumbled, patting the bison's head sympathetically. Cal glanced at Kyle, who was looking over the edge of the saddle carefully. He had a musing look on his face, as if remembering something.

“Onii-chan, are you alright?” The little vampire asked, gaining the attention of everyone else. Kyle didn't seem to hear her; he just continued staring into the trees. “Onii-chan?” Cal called again, louder this time.

Kyle shook himself of his stupor and cleared his throat. “We shouldn't land here.”

Katara glanced over the edge, looking where Kyle was. “Why not?”

“A while ago… I heard rumors of a swamp around this area. The swamp is said to be haunted.”

“And you think this might be the swamp?” Sokka asked skeptically. “I mean, come on, haunted?” Kyle shifted his terse gaze to Sokka, who flinched.

“There are vampires. So don't you think there might be ghosts too?.” He looked back towards the swamp. “It is not a wise idea to land there.” Aang sighed and grabbed the reigns tightly.

“Sorry, boy, but lets go back.” Appa groaned loudly and turned around. Suddenly, the giant bison jerked and bumped. Aang gasped and peered over the side of Appa. A giant vine had tied itself around Appa's front leg from the ground. “W-what the-?” He yelled. Aang was about to try and detach the vine with airbending when he heard a scream from behind him. Whirling around, he saw Cal, Katara, and Sokka leaning over the edge of Appa. “What happened?” He called to them. Sokka dashed forward and pointed over Appa's side for Aang to look. Peering to where Sokka pointed, Aang witnessed Kyle falling through the air and towards the canopy of the swamp.

“Onii-chan!” Cal shrieked from the Saddle. “Onii-chan!” She tried to leap over the edge, but Katara held her back with a great amount of effort.

“Don't, we'll save him, don't worry!” She yelled. Appa jerked violently again as more vine shot up, grabbing him.

Aang grabbed the reigns and tried to turn Appa away from the swamp. Every second, though, they were losing altitude to the plants pulling them in. “We can't stay up for much longer! We're going down!” Aang yelled to the others. Cal and Katara clambered to the middle of the saddle and latched onto each other. The ground got closer and closer after every second. “Brace for impact!” Aang screamed as Appa hit the tallest of the trees. The giant bison roared as trees and vines whipped his body all the way down to the swamp floor. Aang was thrown away from Appa when a tree branch hit him in the chest with Sokka trailing behind him. Cal and Katara flew the other direction.

. . .

 

“Aang!” A voice called. He felt something on his face; a numbness. “Hey, Aang! Are you awake?” He felt the feeling again, and heard the voice. “Aang!” This time, he felt the numbness in his side and opened his eyes. Aang saw the blurry image of Sokka over him. “Jeez, Aang, you scared the heck outta me! What was I gonna do if you died?” Aang grinned and chuckled softly.

“Defeat the fire lord yourself?” Sokka snorted and held his hand out for him to take.

“Yea right, and Kyle's your father.” Aang blinked, along with Sokka. They were quite for a second, considering the possibility, then burst out laughing. After sobering up, the two looked around.

“Any sign of anyone else?” Sokka shook his head. “Even Appa and Momo?”

“Oddly enough, no. We're alone here. Although it might be a good idea to wait.” Seeing Aang's confused face, Sokka elaborated. “Well if Cal's senses are so good, it will only be a matter of time before we're found, right?” Aang stared at Sokka with wide eyes. No, not right at him, just beside him. Sokka nearly felt his heart jump out of his throat when he felt a vine lay itself on his shoulder. Letting out a terrified scream, Sokka drew his blade and sliced the vine in two. Aang and Sokka back against a tree quickly, looking at the waving vine in the air. It didn't move like a normal vine, it moved like it had a mind of its own. Aang gulped audibly.

“Or… maybe lets go look for them.” The monk whimpered. Sokka agreed and the two set off at a slow walk, chopping the vines that fell in their path. “Uh… Sokka, do you think that's a good idea? I mean, to kill the plants like that?” Sokka sliced another vine and craned his head behind him, looking at Aang.

“Why not? Their blocking our way, aren't they?”

“Well, yea… I just have a bad feeling about this.” Sokka sighed and sheathed his blade in his belt.

“Alright… then we'll-“ He was interrupted by a large amount of roots jutting up from the marsh and separating the two. Sokka gasped and chopped at the wood fiercely. “Aang!” He called. There was no answer. “Aang!” He yelled louder. When there was no answer again, he dropped his arms and shivered. “This is for all those plants… isn't it?” He asked the trees quietly. The plants rustled in the soft breeze in reply. Sokka sighed and whirled around. “Fine then, on my own.” He mumbled and trudged forward.

The further Sokka walked into the dark marsh, the more nervous he got. The plants seemed to be alive as he passed them. It was weird. Maybe the swamp was haunted? Could Kyle have been right? Sokka shook his head and laughed to himself. “Come on… that's just not logical. I mean ghosts? Haha, yea right.” He laughed again and rounded around a tree, and nearly running head first into a girl.

Sokka yelped in shock at the sudden appearance of this girl, but calmed down enough to talk. “Uh… hi?” He asked. The girl blinked and stood still. Sokka got a good look at the girl swallowed nervously. Something about the girl didn't seem right. She was dressed in an ornate dress and looked calm as anyone not in a haunted swamp. “Who- uh… who are you?” The girl brushed a lock of white hair out of her face and faded out of view slowly. Sokka stuttered to himself out of shock and collapsed on the ground. After a few seconds his breathing returned to normal and he slapped a hand to his forehead.

“A ghost?” He asked the darkness. He looked at the ground where the vision had been. “She was… beautiful.”

. . .

 

Aang hammered on the roots with his fists desperately. “Sokka! Sokka! No!” He jumped away and blew a flurry of air blasts into the strong roots. The wall didn't budge at all. “Sokka!” He yelled again and fell to his knees on the ground. Aang desperately tried to get his emotions under control and stood up, looking around. There was nothing but trees, roots and vines all around him. Where was everybody else? Appa? Katara? Cal? Kyle? Maybe if he got higher, he might be able to spot someone. Aang leapt off the ground and flipped onto a thick branch. “Might be able to spot something from here.” The airbender mumbled to himself. Looking around with a much better vantage, he saw just how expansive and cluttered the swamp really was. I thought I would at least be able to see Appa… Aang thought, bewildered. How far did I get thrown? He felt something around his leg and gasped in shock.

A vine had tangled itself around his leg and Aang yelled in fright, jumping away from the branch. The vine stretched and impeded Aang's escape, making the airbender crash into a tree painfully, and fall back down into the mud.

“Ow… ow ow ow…” Aang groaned and stood back up. “Well…” He said, wiping the muck from his hairless head. “Might as well start walking.” Although, he didn't even know where to start. Everything seemed to be watching him, even the trees and plants. Aang held his shoulders and swallowed. “I'm the Avatar. I'm not afraid of a swamp.” A far off howl sounded, making Aang jump in fright.

“But a strange animal… that, the Avatar is definitely afraid of.” He whispered and continued walking through gaps in the trees. “Strange animals and scary bugs.” He added when he saw a beetle the side of his fist scuttle across the dirt in front of him. “Big… scary… bugs…”

Soon Aang reached a large tree. It was about as big around as Appa and shot towards the canopy. It certainly looked like it belonged in the swamp, but somehow it seemed out of place. His gray eyes scanned the trunk and rose towards the top, then widened when he saw somebody standing where the trunk split off into the smaller branches. There was a little girl standing in the branches, looking at him. Or near him, Aang couldn't tell exactly. The girl was far off, but could still see the white dress she wore; as well as the winged pig next to her. Maybe she's lost. Aang thought and called up to the girl.

“Excuse me, are you lost?” The girl snickered loudly and dropped behind the tree, the pig flapping in her wake. Aang quickly jumped into the tree and scanned the area. “Excuse me?” He called again. “Who are you? Are you alright?” He heard the laughter reverberate through the trees and jumped towards where he saw her disappear.

Who was she?

. . .

 

“Onii-chan!” Call wailed in despair. She writhed on the hard ground, screaming up into the sky. “Onii-chan! Come back, Onii-chan!” She shrieked to the trees. “Give me back my Onii-chan!” Katara sat a few feet away from her, staring at the broken girl on the ground. She had seen the whole thing play out before her eyes time after time ever since they landed. Cal had Kyle's hand as he was tossed over the edge with the first bump. His hand started to slip, but Cal only gripped tighter. No matter how hard she tried, his hand just kept slipping more and more; until he fell. That fall would kill anybody. Katara thought sullenly; Even a vampire.

Her thoughts were broken by Cal's curse-ridden screams.

“You fucking swamp! Give me the fuck back my Onii-chan! Fucking bastard swamp!” She howled and threw a cone of fire at the closest tree. Katara shot to her feet faster than she ever had before.

“Cal! No!” She yelled and ran towards the girl. If she started a fire in the forest, it would be too much for her to stop. A swamp would even be more dangerous. “Cal!” The vampire whirled around on Katara, glaring at her venomously. Katara skid to a halt and held her hands up in defeat. “Please, Cal, stop. This doesn't solve anything.” Cal's glare wavered and crumbled into guilt-wracked sobs. She collapsed to her hands and knees and wailed into the dirt.

“Onii-chan!” She cried, pounding the ground with her fist. Katara's thoughts flashed back to the conversation they had before. She loves him more than life itself. The waterbender walked in front of Cal and knelt down, placing gentle hands on her shoulders. Cal lifted her head and stared at Katara's eyes with her own wet eyes. “I let Onii-chan go…” She whispered with a wavering voice and lunged forward, burying her face in Katara's chest, sobbing loudly.

Katara swallowed and moved her hand behind Cal's head, cradling her softly. “Shh…” She hushed Cal, smiling. No matter how much of a killer she is… no matter how much she may hate waterbenders… she is still a little girl at heart. At least… right now. Katara thought as she gently rocked Cal back and forth. “Shh… Cal… it's alright. I'm positive Kyle's fine. All we need to do is find him. You can do that, right?” Cal's crying quieted and slowed. “Kyle himself said that you can track anything.” The vampire lifted her head and stared into Katara's eyes, her own widened.

“He…” She sniffed loudly. “He said that?” Katara nodded, smiling. Cal sniffed again and smiled back at Katara.

The waterbender stood up and held her hand out for Cal to take. “So, you want to find your Onii-chan, or what?” Cal nodded and grabbed Katara's hand. Now standing on wobbly legs, Cal wiped her eyes and her nose with her sleeve.

“Do me a favor?” Cal asked.

“Anything.”

Cal laughed quietly and motioned her finger around the forest around them. “When we find the guys… don't tell them that we hugged. That would just get them excited.” The two girls laughed.

“It'll be our secret.” Katara winked. “Now, which way?”

Cal blew her nose on her shirt and sniffed her air, her eyes closed. “Kyle can take care of himself. Lets find Aang and your brother first.” Katara agreed and Cal led the way through the trees toward their quarry.

. . .

 

“Why does it always end up this way?” Kyle muttered to himself more than one hundred feet in the air. He had fallen a frighteningly long way from Appa. As he reached the trees, the vampire spun acutely, pushing them out of the way with airbending so he could hopefully land safely. Unfortunately, Kyle stopped to early, and landed back first on a long branch that was sticking up toward the sky. The branch impaled him and Kyle slid down the length of the branch towards the trunk. Now, the vampire lay dangling in the air, staring ironically at the moss-covered branch sticking out of his stomach and continuing fifty or sixty feet up in the air in front of him. “Ow… ow… ow…” He winced as he tried to move. “Fine…” Kyle dropped his arms and sighed deeply. “Stupid branch.”

 

He eyed the offending branch warily. Branches don't usually point up, ready to impale spontaneously falling people. Even more so, it was the only branch around here that did point up. Almost like it was made for him to fall on.

 

“You suck, tree.” He jerked his head behind him, referring to the tree that grew the branch. Kyle sighed again and crossed his arms over his chest, above the branch. “Cal's probably throwing a fit.” He mumbled to himself. She had tried to grip his hand, but failed. She would most likely blame herself. Just like she always did when something bad happened to him. Well, she had better not find out about this… or she'll turn masochistic. I really don't need that. He laughed to himself and wrapped his hands around the thick branch. “Let's see how strong this bitch is.” He grunted and tried pulled the branch to the side. It creaked with stress and Kyle could see the branch waver down its length, but it didn't break. “Damnit.” He dropped his arms again and his right hand hit something hard. Wait a minute… He felt with his hand and grasped the hilt of his sword. Ah hah!

 

Grinning, Kyle drew his blade and held it above his head, ready to chop into the branch. “Die you oddity of the forest.” He sliced the branch and the entire length crashed to the ground. As soon as the thunderous crash ceased below an eerie silence settled on the swamp. Kyle looked around, still hanging on the branch, at the swaying trees. Something about them seemed different. “Uh oh.” The vampire whispered nervously. “I knew this swamp was creepy.” He dropped his sword to the ground and gripped the remaining branch, which still stuck out a few inched in front of him. Grunting with pain, Kyle pulled himself up the rest of the branch and, now free, fell to the ground, landing of his hands and knees.

 

The vampire gasped in pain on the ground as his deep wound slowly started to re-stitch itself. It would take a while, though, due to the severity of the wound. Reaching out beside him, he grasped the hilt of his sword and pushed himself up, sticking the blade into the ground. Now supporting himself on his sword, Kyle looked around. The trees seemed to stop swaying as much, but still had an eerie feeling emanating from them.

 

“Creey trees.” The vampire muttered started to limp slowly through the foliage. Cal will probably stop at nothing to try and find me. So all I have to do is make a path with scent for her to follow. He thought as he made his way through the swamp. Kyle grimaced again as pain wracked its way through his body. “Ow… owowow.” He winced and sat on the ground, resting against a tree. “Damn… I was just hurt yesterday too…” He groaned and gently felt around the area around the wound. The branch had broke the skin, pierced through a kidney and the stomach, and ruptured through the front of his torso. A nice clean impalement. Although he doubted that the branch was hardly clean. He wound was healing, but it would take a few hours, and would leave a rather nasty scar. “Dandy.” Kyle muttered and leaned his head back, shutting his eyes.

 

. . .

 

Soon after he shut his eyes, he opened them. Kyle looked around wildly. I know I heard something. He deftly felt his wound. The skin had stretched across the gap in his stomach and healed itself. Kyle clenched his teeth together and pushed himself up into a strait sitting position. He must have been out for a couple of hours, at least, for the would to be healed so much. The vampire was right in the fact that there would be a scar. There was a darker shade of flesh that sunk in deeper where the branch had stuck through. Just another one to add to the list. He though as he gripped his sword.

 

Kyle pushed himself up, feeling no pain, and looked around more carefully. Something jarred him from unconsciousness; something that was still here. Light shown through the sparse openings in the tall trees, revealing that it was still daytime, and gave light to the dim swamp. “Alright…” Kyle whispered and held his sword in front of him. “Bring it on, whoever you are.” He waited, but nothing appeared to attack him. After satisfied that he was relatively safe, Kyle sheathed his sword. The vampire, determined to find the others, turned around.

 

And Senea stood in front of him, a blank look on her face.

 

Kyle's eyes widened in shock and he backed into a tree. He couldn't form any words to say. Senea just stood in front of him, not changing her face, not doing anything. She looked just as Kyle remembered her. Long hair, tied at the end with the same fabric. Deep, brown, sharp eyes that matched her face. Her was shook from his thoughts when Senea reached up wit her hand and brushed Kyle's face. Kyle flinched, but he felt nothing. Of course… a vision. He thought and growled at the vision. “Stop playing with my memories.” Senea pulled back and looked hurt. Kyle smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. “I'm not going to fall for that. Leave me.”

 

“Do you really wish for me to leave?” Senea asked, tears coming to her eyes.

 

“You are not real.”

 

“But I am.” Kyle laughed and shook his head.

 

“Don't try and confuse me with mind games. I am stronger than that. I haven't lived for nearly four hundred years not to be stupid.” The vision wiped her leaking eyes and looked at Kyle sadly.

 

“You want to leave… just like you did before…” She sobbed softly into her hands. Kyle swallowed and exhaled. I will not fall for this spell.

 

“I didn't leave. I escaped Victoria.” Senea picked her head up and pointed accusingly at the vampire.

 

“I wanted you to help me!” Kyle narrowed his eyes, sharpening them into a glare.

 

“No… you didn't… you told me to escape, not help you.” The girl shook her head.

 

“That's not true! I wanted you to help me and our child!” Kyle's eyes widened and he froze. Our… child?

 

“What… did you say?” He asked with a low voice. Surely he misheard her.

 

Senea wiped her eyes and felt her stomach with her hands. “Our child, Kyle. Our child. You killed our child when you let her kill me.” She hissed out `her'. Kyle blinked and felt his newly healed stomach churn sickly.

 

“That's not possible.” He bit off, glaring again. “It is not possible for vampires to conceive. You cannot fool me.” Senea reached up with her hand and slapped Kyle across the face. He stumbled back and felt his cheek numbly. He felt that. “Wha- what are-“

 

“Believe what you want, Kyle. But at least you know the truth!” Senea screamed and vanished eerily into the mist behind her. Kyle stared at the place where the vision of Senea had been, his hand still at his face. He stood still for several minutes before straitening himself and brushing his hair out of his face. The vampire growled and looked up at the tall trees around him.

 

“You can't fool me!” He yelled. “No matter what you throw at me, you cannot fool me!” Kyle set off at a fast walk through a small path. It is not possible. He thought defiantly.

 

. . .

 

Katara followed Cal closely through numerous vines and plants. They had been walking for a while and found no one. Katara started to worry about Aang, Sokka, and Kyle. When voicing her worry to Cal, she replied with, “Don't worry, I have Aang's scent.” Even more worrisome, Appa hadn't been found either. Katara hoped the giant bison would be safe when found. If found. She corrected. Cal suddenly stopped and twitched her head to the left. Katara stopped and put her hand to her canteen.

 

“What is it, Cal?” The vampire brushed her hair out of her eyes and licked her lips.

 

“I don't know… but Aang is close. I think I smell Sokka as well.” She pushed vines out of the way and looked past them. “Katara, come here.” She whispered. The waterbender crept next to Cal and looked past the plants. About ten or so meters in front of the two girls was a huge mass of pulsating vines. Katara gasped involuntarily at the moving mass of plants. The pile of vines and tendrils was huge, and strangely shaped. It almost looked like it had a face.

 

“Wh- what is that thing?”

 

Cal pointed her finger towards it. “It's a huge pile of vines from the swamp.”

 

Katara scoffed. “Well, yea, I noticed that! But why is it moving on its own?”

 

“Look carefully.” The vampire kept her finger trained on the plant monster. “Onii-chan has been teaching you about water in living things, correct?” Katara nodded beside Cal. “Well… look at the movement of the plants. Doesn't it seem… strange to you? Like somebody is manipulating it?” Katara wasn't very good at it yet, but she could recognize the movements.

 

“Yes… yes it does! Somebody is bending the water in the vines!” She caught her voice only after she said those words. On no… Cal… waterbenders… Cal's finger drifted to the left.

 

“And now look. I found Aang.” Katara's eyes darted to where Cal pointed. Sure enough, Aang was jumping around, trying to dodge giant vines being swung at him from the manipulated vine monster.

”It's attacking Aang!” Cal nodded and clenched her hand into a fist.

 

“Lets go save him, then.” Katara nodded and the two girls jumped from the cover of the plants, running toward the fight. Before they got too far, vines shot out of the side of the monster and tried to intercept the girls. Katara spun on one of her legs and brought an arm up, causing a thin sheet of water to rise from the swampy ground and slice the vine in half. Cal, now in a better state of mind not to use firebending, held both of her fists in front of two vines coming at them, and flexed her fingers. The vines iced over and shattered in one quick second. Aang saw the two girls and jumped over, nearly missing a huge, trunk-sized vine that crashed into the ground behind him.

 

“Katara! Cal! I'm so glad to see you two!” He yelled happily and landed beside them.

 

Katara split another vine apart and held her hands out in front of her in a waterbending stance. “Aang, where's Sokka?” Aang shook his head and back flipped away from another attack.

 

“I don't know! We were separated!” As if he was just called by this conversation, Sokka flew screaming into view from the dense trees in front of the trio.

 

“Sokka!” Katara called and rushed to him, slicing two more vines that came after her. “Are you alright?” Her brother held his side and coughed loudly.

”Ow!” He yelled and clambered to his feet. “Katara! Watch out! There are strange people after-“ He stopped yelling when he saw the huge mass of weeds and plants before him. The monster writhed and out from the middle came the huge vine that attacked Aang moments earlier. Katara pushed Sokka out of the path of the trunk-sized root and rolled back to her feet. Cal's scream sounded and Katara saw the little vampire leap into air, a look or rage on her face, and land on the large vine.

 

“Cal! Be careful!” Katara called fruitlessly. Cal crossed her arms in front of her chest, gathering water from the ground and forming it around her arms. With another cry, she swung her arms across each other and the water sliced out through the vine and back into the ground. The large plant monstrosity froze in place after she had detached the large root from the main group. Katara took the opportunity to drag Sokka to his feet and pull him to Aang. “Aang, Sokka, there's a waterbender in there!” Their reaction was that of shock.

 

“A waterbender? In that thing?” Aang repeated. Katara nodded fiercely.

 

“Yea, the person must be bending the water in the plants. Kyle has been teaching me that.” Aang's face took on a look of jealousy.

 

“Ah, no way! I wanna learn that!”

 

Sokka held his blade out in front of him. “Shut up! Why isn't it attacking us anymore?” Indeed, the mass hadn't moved since Cal had her way with it. The vampire turned around and stared up into what looked like the middle of the monster.

 

Cal turned her head towards the others. “Hang tight, I'll be right back.” She said blankly. Katara shivered and held her elbows. Cal's eyes had looked blank… like they had when she had attacked her. The vampire turned back and leapt into the middle of the plants, pushing away the vines and disappearing into the cloud of dark green. After a few seconds, somebody was thrown out of the mound of vines and landed with a splash in front of Katara, Sokka, and Aang. Cal jumped out after the body and landed right beside it.

 

Now in full view, the controller of the vines was apparently an old man; white in the hair, and looking terrified of Cal. The vampire picked the man up by the shirt and held her other hand up, baring her nails. Katara was about to try and stop Cal, but was beaten to it. There was the sound of steel drawn and pressed against skin. Cal's eyes widened as she felt cold metal held against her neck.

 

“Cal… stop.” Kyle said, facing away from her, his sword against her throat. Cal dropped the old waterbender with a soft thump and slowly turned towards Kyle. He looked like he had been through hell and back; torn clothes, messed up and muddy hair, even a rather nasty-looking hole through the back of his coat. Katara could swear there was a matching hole in the front of his shirt. Cal faced Kyle's back and a tear rolled down her face.

 

“O-onii-chan?” She whispered softly. Kyle pulled his sword away and sheathed it. Cal's face lit up with happiness and she leapt at Kyle, hugging him fiercely and knocking him to the ground. “Onii-chan!” She cried happily, rubbing her face in his shirt. “I'm is so happy! So… happy.” She sobbed while smiling. Kyle sighed and rubbed Cal's head, messing up her hair further.

 

“You didn't even notice me? Cal, Cal, Cal…” He laughed and glanced at the old man who fearfully eyed the girl. “Are you the one who had been moving the forest?” The waterbender held up his hands.

 

“No, no! Well, I was moving the vines here with waterbending. But that's only because I thought your guys were intruders that wanted to destroy the swamp!” Katara stepped forward and helped the old man up.

 

“We crash landed here when vines came up and grabbed us.” The old man cocked his head in confusion.

”Came up and grabbed you?” Aang jumped forward, clasping his hands together.

 

“Yea, yea! Have you seen a giant flying bison around here?” The old man blinked for a second and whistled sharply. From the trees behind him came several other bedraggled-looking people. Sokka yelled out in fright saying, those are the guys that attacked me! They were dragging behind them, Appa. Another had a sack, apparently containing Momo. Aang's face lit up and he dashed towards the bison. “Appa!” One of the men dragging Appa scratched his head, frowning.

 

“Yea… we were gonna eat it.” Aang's face fell on horror.

 

. . .

 

It was now nighttime. Everybody was settled in Appa's saddle as he soared through the night sky. Aang turned away from the reigns, letting Appa fly by himself, and sat next to Katara and Sokka. The three looked, smiling, at Cal. She hadn't let go of Kyle since he had come back. The little vampire must have been extremely worried about him.

 

“So, why did we leave so early? We could have at least stayed the night…” Sokka wondered. Kyle frowned and sighed.

 

“It's not a good idea for strangers to stay in that swamp for too long.” He murmured.

 

“But why?” Aang asked, petting Momo on his lap. The vampire brushed his hair away with his free hand.

 

“I told you earlier about a rumor of this swamp, didn't I?” Everybody nodded. “Well… that swamp is actually one huge tree. Look.” He pointed over the side of Appa. A tree, easily the largest tree ever seen by anybody ever, loomed ominously in the light fog. Even Cal was at a loss for words, but still didn't release Kyle. The vampire continued. “That tree's roots spread out in all directions for miles. This swamp is actually one huge tree; one organism.” The others looked down into the swamp in awe.

 

“One… huge tree… no way.” Aang marveled.

 

“Do you understand?” The others nodded. “Good. Then can you understand that the entire world is one organism? Just like this swamp?” Nods again, albeit slowly. “Then just use that thinking to consider the possibility that everything is connected in a way. So, in this swamp, people who enter it see… well… visions.” Aang and Sokka both donned looks of remembering. “You two saw visions?” Sokka shook his head, as did Aang.

 

“Well… not really. I saw a girl.” Sokka pointed out.

 

“I did too. She laughed and ran away.” Aang held his chin in his hand. “And she had a flying boar with her…” Sokka scratched his cheek nervously.

 

“Mine… uh… disappeared. Like a ghost.”

Kyle sympathized and gently stroked Cal's hair. “These visions that are seen in the swamp, or so I've heard, are of people we've cared for… loved… lost… or will meet.” Sokka held up his hands.

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… how can we have visions of people we've never met before?”

 

Kyle chewed his nail, thinking deeply, as if not being able to find the correct words. “It's… kind of like… time does not exist outside of life. So, because everything is connected, like this tree,” He waved back to the large trunk. “Time is connected to life as the world is connected to everything else.” He poked his forehead with the hand that Cal hadn't commandeered. “So it's possible to see visions of people we haven't met before. Understand?” Silence fell on the group for a minute.

 

“So…” Aang wondered. “The visions Sokka and I saw… because we've never met them before… were of people we loved… in the future? We haven't met them yet?”

 

“Well… more or less… the rumor is cared for or loved… it could be a family member or something like that. Get it?” Aang nodded. “What about you?” Kyle asked Sokka, who crossed his arms.

 

“An illusion, nothing more.” He said, holding his chin up. Katara sighed at her brother and was hit with a thought. She didn't see anything because she was with Cal the whole time… Aang was alone… Sokka was alone… and Kyle was alone.

 

“Did you see anyone, Kyle?” The vampire frowned and looked over the edge of Appa. He didn't answer for a minute, then turned back towards Katara.

 

“No.” He said and looked down at Cal, who had her eyes shut and smiled peacefully.

 

“Onii-channnn…” She murmured sleepily. Kyle chuckled and locked his eyes with Katara, who smiled at the sight. “Thanks for taking care of her, by the way. She must have been a handful.” Katara held her hand up.

 

“Don't mention it. It wasn't a problem. I just can't believe there was watrbenders out here.” She said, surprise.

 

“I'm not. I mean, why would the only waterbenders be in the north and south poles? There is water everywhere in the world. What I'm surprised of is Cal.” Katara's arched an eyebrow. “She didn't kill any of the waterbenders residing in the swamp… she could have… but she didn't… I'm proud of her.” Katara smiled.

 

“She was just preoccupied by you.” Kyle chucked and brushed a strand of hair out of Cal's sleeping face.

 

“I'm not so sure… She might finally be growing up.” Cal purred slightly and giggled in her sleep.

 

“Onii-chan… that tickles…” Kyle and Katara stared blankly at the little vampire.

 

What was she dreaming about?

 

. . .

 

Appa finally cleared the swamp below and roared in happiness. The bison wasn't that enthusiastic about being eaten. Aang set a course for the east according to Kyle's direction and everybody settled to sleep for a few hours. Mumbling his goodnights, Kyle rolled over and looked back towards the edge of the swamp. It loomed darkly in the eerie mist behind them, as if warning them not to return.

 

Its… just not possible.

 

. . .

 

Woot. Another long chapter.

 

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